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In 1966, Mie Hama was known as The Japanese Brigitte Bardot. The 24 year old had already appeared in 61 Japanese movies by the time she was offered the Bond movie You Only Live Twice. Not bad for a girl that started out as a bus fare collector in Tokyo. She was spotted by a Japanese producer and offered an acting contract at Toho Studios.

Lewis Gilbert, director of You Only Live Twice, tells this story:

"We found two young actresses in Japan to play in the movie. They couldn't speak English well, so we sent them to London six months early to learn English. One actress, Akiko Watabayashi learned pretty well, but the other one, Mie Hamma couldn't learn enough for the role, so I told Japanese star Tetsuro Tamba, ‘Please take her to dinner and tell her that we can’t use her, and that she has to return to Japan’.

"The next morning I asked Tamba ‘How did it go with Mie?’ Tamba told me, ‘ Mie had lost face, and feels that she is a disgrace to her family and will jump out of her hotel window tonight.’ ‘You can’t be serious,’ I said to Tamba. ‘Oh yes, she is a hundred percent serious. She will jump,’ he said.”

All that good fortune and success and Mie Hama is going to throw it all away, make her parents and relatives sad, just because she thought she had lost face. A sad mental state, but quite normal for Japanese people, especially at that time.Director Lewis Gilbert continues:

"Well, that really scared the hell out of me. I didn’t want a young woman’s death on my conscience nor did the producers want that kind of publicity. So I told Tamba to tell her to stay and that she would be in the movie. Then I came up with the idea to have the two Japanese actresses switch parts because the other part didn't have much English speaking in it, and it worked out okay."

Mie Hama went on to appear in 15 more Japanese movies, became a talk show hostess, married a Japanese businessman and most recently is working as an active environmentalist.

When things get tough, don't jump, stick it out, take what action you can and things will improve, even to the point of great success. ﻿

A good point about the writer. Now that you metion it, coffee would be a big deal at the North pole. Did you know they filmed the last part of that movie in a giant frozen meat storehouse so that the actor's breath would show when the Thing turned off the heat. True story.﻿

A neighbor of Michael Caine's came to his house and warned him that an Indian family was moving to their street in London and something had to be done about it. The man said, “Once they move into the neighborhood, you can never get them to leave.”

Caine, asked the man to follow him into his living where his wife was watching TV. Caine said, “This is my wife Shakira. She’s Indian. And if you think it’s hard to get them out of the neighborhood, it’s impossible to get them out of your house, once they move in.”

The neighbor, visibly stunned, turned and left the house without saying a word.

In Bill Medley’s new book: The Time of My Life – A Righteous Brother’s Memoir, he says: In Las Vegas, I went to my road manager's office. I was not dressed well for such a meeting; I was wearing slippers, a ratty old sweater and Levis. I also hadn't shaved for about three days. We noticed that Bobby Darin was playing at the Flamingo, so we snuck in the back because I was dressed so badly. Halfway through the show, Bobby announces, "Ladies and gentlemen, Bill Medley from the Righteous Brothers is here. Bill come on up." There was no way, dressed like I was, that I was going to get up there. I signaled a polite "no thanks" but Bobby persisted with the band playing What'd I Say, while I kept saying, "No, no thanks," for three minutes. "C'mon up Bill," Bobby said, not giving up. Finally my road manager said, "You're just gonna have to go up....and start dressing better." As I got up, I hit the table and a pitcher of beer spilled all over my crotch. Dressed like a homeless guy, with my pants looking like I'd just had a bladder accident, I took the stage. Since the band was playing, I couldn't stop and explain what had happened. Thank God this was before cell phone cameras.

After the song I said, "Bobby, sorry for the way I'm dressed, I was just coming into town for a quick meeting and I spilled a pitcher of beer on my way up here." Bobby cracked up, along with the audience.

I did learn a great lesson though. Believe me, I never go out in public looking like that anymore, and I'm extra careful about having pitchers of liquids on my table. In hindsight, it was one of my most embarrassing moments, but a funny one, too.

The first words of the movie Lucy are; Life was given to us a billion years ago. What have we done with it?

The unique special effect action scenes will energize you, but there's so much more to this movie, if you let it's entirety work on you.

Of course, we can never do what Lucy does in this movie. But just watching her utilize her new powers can encourage us to think outside the box to upgrade our careers.

With it's many stiking images of the natural wonders of the earth and universe, the movie kind of hypnotizes you into the feeling that you are actuall using your brain like Lucy does. And with Morgan Freeman's theretical teachings, one gets into an intellectual mood and an appreciation of what it took for us humans to get to this point in time. Freeman asks the question, "Are human beings more concerned with having, than... being?

At the heart of the movie is an appreciation of our humanity. Action fans, waiting for the next shoot-out, may overlook the phone call that Lucy makes to her mother. Never has a 'don't forget to call your mother' statement been made so strongly.

Lucy's appreciation of her parents and the miracle that brought her to life is clearly stated.

Any success teacher will tell you that; The first step to more money and more success is to have an appreciation of what we have now and use that as a platform to move up.

General good advice is also slipped into the story as Lucy tells her ailing roommate; "You need to make some lifestyle changes. Take this medication, work out, eat organic. You'll be okay."

And finally, just think of what we could do for our careers if we could type on two laptops with one hand each, as fast as Lucy does. With that brain power on the internet, we could find the right person, place, product, book or website that would take our careers to a new level.

Of course, we can't use two laptops with Lucy's speed, but we can enhance our performance to take efficient action for success.

I've been a fan of Rod Taylor since I saw The Time Machine. And who better to take us through the narration of a story than the guy that most boys, and the young at heart, have taken the ride with him countless times in his machine.

His narrative voice is strong and gentle at the right times and we trust him to guide us on our adventure together into the future. So for me, he was the only choice for my audio-book Rock Star Rising.We planned to start recording at 9 am. My producer and friend Larry Metzger and I decided to site in the plush building lobby and wait for Rod. The sound man was setting things up in the studio and everything was cool. Our chairs in the lobby faced the heavy glass recording studio door that had a bell on it. We were only 10 feet away, and since there was no one else in the lobby on a Saturday we would surely see Rod arrive.

Suddenly in the midst of conversation the sound man comes out and says, "Rod's here. He's in the studio." I said, "What! We were both looking right at the door. We would have seen him open the heavy slow door and heard the bell." We jumped up and went into the studio.

Rod, even though having never met me, greeted me with a big smile and a "Hello Paul." Maybe he checked my photo on IMDB site, I don't know. But I had heard that Rod is a happy, gregarious fellow and I saw that in person one other time which I will tell later on. He said, "I really enjoyed your script especially...." and then he quoted a passage by heart. And then said, "That's a long winded sentence, but I think I can make it."

I said, "Yeah, I do have a few run-on sentences in there." I told him how much I liked him and Jim Brown in Dark of the Sun. That is the movie where he plays a mercenary soldier and takes a train into the African Congo to bring back people trapped by rebels, as well as diamonds. Rod said, "Do you know, that's Martin Scorsese's and Quentin Tarintino's number one favorite movie?"

After a few more stories, I explained to Rod how we were recording in digital and that he could stop and repeat a line again any time he wanted.; hat any mistake could be easily cut out later. This was his first time working with digital and was amazed how technology had progressed since he had recorded the voice of Pogo in the original 101 Dalmatians.

Rod started out as contract player for MGM. He appeared in Giant and Separate Tables. He made it a point to appear only in good movies, turning down lower class productions, as he was, and is, truly interested in doing good work in a profession that he really respects.

He gained fame with The Time Machine and the TV show Hong Kong where he became the highest paid actor for a one hour show. Rod solidified his star position with the Alfred Hitchock movie, The Birds. Fate is the Hunter, 36 Hours, and Dark of the Sun showed he could chose imaginative and rugged parts.

Only at one point in the narration of my production did Rod actually lose his breath, at the end of which he chuckled out, "There you go again, Paul, with the run-on sentences." "Sorry Rod. I was advised on my first novel that there was a period on the typewriter. I thought I had improved."

I was surprised when Rod made improvements to some of the lines I wrote and even found an "unnecessary and confusing" passage that he recommended I delete. When he explained it to me, I understood right away and deleted it. Rod was not only acting, he was processing the story and making additions and improvements.He was a real example of a professional interested in his craft. At the 2-hour point, Rod asked for a break. We talked about his other films and I was able to tell him this story:

"You know Rod, I once visited your set at the Burbank studio when you were filming the TV pilot for "Shamus." I sat on an "apple box" against the wall and watched you film. When you finished, you started telling a funny experience to the crew, who gathered around you and where I was sitting. Half way through your story you looked around for a place to sit and sat on the end of the box, shoulder to shoulder with me. I was in heaven sitting with my hero. "Rod laughed and replied, "You should have told me to 'Get the hell off my apple box'."

After finishing the narration, I asked Rod to sign a Time Machine photo for me. Instead of leaning over the table, he sat himself down as if preparing to paint a master piece, and signed it large and clear.Just before leaving, I said to him, "Rod, just one last thing. I want to tell you my favorite line you ever said in the movies: "Put the swastika back on. You've earned it!" He said, "Yeah, that's from Dark of the Sun. He then added. "I had a great time working with you. Good luck with your project."

A week later when Larry and I were again sitting outside in the lobby near the recording studio door, it finally occurred to me how Rod had gotten inside without us seeing him. "Larry", I said, using a Scottish accent, trying to sound like Alan Young in 'The Time Machine'. "Now I see. Rod drug his heavy machine over there, scratching the floor, so that he would appear inside the studio to record our production and make a better world for us." I don't know which three books he took with him. But I hope one of them is Rock Star Rising. ﻿

Yes, that's Daniel Craig as Santa. Judging from his past actions of helping people in distress and rescuing the world when it's on the brink of destruction, the answer is easy if you think about it.

Here's a hint. When he leaves the casino at the beginning of Dr. No, he casually tips the doorman. Yes, he's free with his money. He's also free with his compliments as he tips the craps dealers in Diamond's Are Forever, saying, "Thank you gentlemen, for such a sterling service."

In Casino Royal, when Bond passes through the security gate on the way to the card game, he says "thank you" to the security man when he's handed his keys back. After her wins at Casino Royale, he slides the dealer a half-million dollar chip.

Ready to leave the craps table in Diamonds Are Forever, he then gives part of his winnings, ($5,000), to "Plenty O'Toole" (Lana Wood) for rolling the dice for him, and continues walking without expecting anything in return. Are you getting close to the answer?

The Mexican Swimmer - Trailer - A book-noir about Rodrigo Villalobos who, because of 'swimming home' through 8 brothels, causes himself to fight for his family's survival. The $2.99 Kindle comes with a free 3 hr. audio-book download: http://goo.gl/SLM0oA﻿